For a complete description of the story behind the story, visit the
Maya Vision site, where the crew has created a site describing their experience.
More information on Maya Vision can be found on the second page of this section.

Making the Series:

In the early 16th Century the Spanish Conquistadors
reached the shores of the new world. Some 500 years later, they were followed by Michael
Wood and the Maya Vision crew. While we were there to follow in the their footsteps
we drew the line at claiming the territory for the Spanish crown and
settled for capturing a four-part documentary series in the name of the BBC and PBS.

During the two years it's been in production, we've carried
22 flightcases over 122,000 miles (five and a half times round the world) and used
40 bottles of mosquito repellent.

We spent 30 nights under the stars and took 150 days
to shoot 100 hours of footage. We climbed from 0 ft (Isle of Sacrifices) up to 17,000
ft (Quoyllur Riti) in temperatures that ranged from 35°C in the North Mexico desert, to eight-below in Quoyllur Riti.

Michael Wood was personally responsible for consuming over 25kg of nuts and raisins while he was on the road. He also managed
to count 60 sandfly bites on one of his arms while rafting in the Amazon.